{"id":929723,"date":"2026-10-16T01:49:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929723\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T01:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:49:33","slug":"nfl-finally-calls-time-on-beleaguered-pro-bowl-after-years-of-format-changes-nfl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/929723\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL finally calls time on beleaguered Pro Bowl after years of format changes | NFL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/sport\/nfl\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL<\/a> is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Beginning \u2060with the 2026 season, 88 Pro Bowlers will be selected but the NFL no longer plans to stage an \u2060AFC-NFC game, a \u2060flag-football matchup \u200bor an accompanying series of competitions. The players chosen will instead be invited to next year\u2019s Super Bowl site in \u2060Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The biggest change beyond eliminating the event itself involves alternates. Only the original 88 \u2060selections will be named Pro Bowlers and no alternates will be added, ending \u200ba system that expanded the list \u200cwhen players withdrew because of \u200cinjuries, Super Bowl commitments or other reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Voting remains split with fans, players \u200cand coaches accounting for one-third of the selection process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL,\u201d NFL executive vice president Peter O\u2019Reilly said Wednesday. \u201cA Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the \u200cbest. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The NFL \u200breworked the event through multiple iterations in recent years as interest in the traditional tackle all-star game declined. The AFC-NFC format was temporarily replaced by a fantasy football style draft in 2014 before later returning in 2017. The Pro Bowl \u2060moved away from longtime host Hawaii after the 2016 edition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A tackle \u200bfootball game was last \u200bplayed in 2022, and \u200brebranded as the Pro Bowl Games for a 2023 debut with skills \u200bcompetitions and flag \u200cfootball. This past season, \u200bthe Pro \u200bBowl Games were moved to the Tuesday before the Super Bowl in San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">League officials said discussions with players helped drive the latest change, citing concerns that repeated selections for replacement had diluted an honor that can have contractual and legacy implications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL is ending the Pro Bowl Games after repeated format changes to its annual all-star event. Beginning&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":929724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-929723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=929723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/929723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/929724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=929723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=929723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=929723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}